If it were any other Umamusume, and they found that Maruzensky wasn't leading by such a large margin in the opening stages, they might have been dismissive, thinking that this overhyped "Hotrod" wasn't all that impressive.
But Obey Your Master was different.
Leaving aside her exceptional skill, her understanding of her opponents was unparalleled by any other Umamusume.
She thoroughly researched all her rivals before each race.
She knew their preferences, running styles, and even their mental states inside and out.
Therefore, Obey Your Master didn't become complacent because Maruzensky was only two lengths ahead.
Instead, her fighting spirit grew stronger, and her excitement was ignited.
To describe Maruzensky in one sentence, it would definitely be—
For her, racing was merely a form of entertainment.
Because her strength far surpassed that of other Umamusumes, Maruzensky always found ways to have fun during the race.
Sometimes she would create a huge gap in speed.
Other times, she would deliberately slow down, baiting the Umamusumes behind her to accelerate and overtake, then suddenly accelerate again.
This back-and-forth easily exhausted the Umamusumes racing against her.
They might even fail to finish the race.
"Is she trying to lure me in?" Obey Your Master thought to herself, deciding to stick to her own pace.
The beginning and middle of this race were unremarkable.
Maruzensky remained two lengths ahead of Obey Your Master throughout, neither widening the gap nor allowing Obey Your Master to close it.
"Maruzensky and Obey Your Master have both entered the final straight line; the battle for victory will take place here!"
"It's clear that neither of the Umamusume has unleashed their true power yet."
"Obey Your Master has accelerated!"
Everyone present saw Obey Your Master's expression suddenly become extremely excited.
The smile on her lips also suddenly became extremely deep.
And in the eyes of some other Umamusumes who had activated their Zone, Obey Your Master had used the Zone at this moment.
Obey Your Master's aura surged, and her star-like eyes instantly ignited with blazing golden flames.
Upon seeing Obey Your Master's Zone, Tamamo Cross curled her lip and clicked her tongue.
Her penultimate match before retirement was against Obey Your Master in the Japan Cup.
On the final straight, Tamamo Cross was overtaken by Obey Your Master, who had activated her Zone, and unfortunately finished second.
After so many years, seeing Obey Your Master again, her aura was no less powerful than before, but rather significantly stronger.
Tamamo Cross was quite displeased.
Obey Your Master's speed increased ridiculously after unleashing her Zone.
This lightning-fast speed startled many of the new and old students present.
"What kind of speed is that?! Is this the Obey Your Master who defeated Tamamo-senpai and Oguri-senpai?!"
"A Zone! How can her Zone be this strong?!"
Many Umamusumes were discussing among themselves, their eyes wide with shock at Obey Your Master's terrifying speed.
The difference in strength was simply too great.
The four TCB Umamusumes standing with Sakura Baimu also stared wide-eyed at the blonde figure in the arena, their faces filled with horror.
This acceleration was simply too terrifying.
And too dazzling.
"The Zone... that's too strong! Golden Crown Eagle is on a completely different level from her, even Urban Sea can't compare to her!"
Mejiro McQueen exclaimed, her surprise evident in her voice.
"Strong? Oguri is even stronger than that."
Sakura Baimu suddenly spoke up.
"Huh? Didn't Oguri-senpai lose to this Obey Your Master?" Satono Diamond exclaimed in surprise.
"Oguri hadn't mastered the Zone yet during the Japan Cup, so she only got third place. Tamamo Cross wasn't any worse than Obey Your Master, but she tanked and then retired after Arima Kinen."
"Tamamo-senpai and Oguri-senpai were already this strong back then; how amazing must they be now!"
Kitasan Black's eyes gleamed as she looked at Obey Your Master on the track, feeling that just watching that speed was a pleasure.
It was so breathtaking.
"Oguri is definitely strong, no less than this Obey Your Master," Sakura Baimu laughed.
"That was terrifying, Obey Your Master! What kind of speed is that?!"
"They crossed the finish line!"
Obey Your Master crossed the finish line, her Zone vanished abruptly, and she gasped for breath, her face covered in sweat.
She glanced at the scoreboard and saw her finish number displayed.
[2]
[2 Lengths]
First place was number 2.
Obey Your Master looked back at her gate, where a single number was clearly written—1.
Then, Obey Your Master abruptly turned her head and saw Maruzensky standing not far beside her, her breathing perfectly normal.
"Oh my, Maruzensky is in first place, crossing the finish line by a mere two Lengths!"
'Huh? It's Maruzen-senpai? Falco didn't even notice her...'
Like Smart Falcon, many people were drawn to Obey Your Master's sudden burst of terrifying acceleration.
Thus, they overlooked Maruzensky, who had been running ahead of her the whole time.
It wasn't until Sakura Bakushin O announced the winner that they belatedly realized.
The winner was actually Maruzensky.
"From beginning to end, even when I used my Zone, she maintained a distance of only two Lengths from me?"
"Is this Hotrod? Hahahaha, she's really amazing!!"
Obey Your Master wasn't disappointed at all; on the contrary, she was extremely excited about being able to compete with Maruzensky.
Maruzensky walked up to the ecstatic Obey Your Master with a smile and whispered in her ear.
"Now, you can tell me that Pony-chan's name~"
Obey Your Master took out her phone, found a picture of Mejiro Sakura, and showed it to Maruzensky.
"Mejiro Sakura."
"Huh? This… she looks so familiar."
Maruzensky's smile suddenly turned into one of surprise. She looked at Mejiro Sakura's face, feeling an overwhelming sense of familiarity, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen her before.
"It's a bit of a shame I couldn't force Hotrod to reveal your true strength, but since you're willing to compete against me, I'll still give you a few extra hints."
Obey Your Master chuckled, retrieved her phone, and pointed her thumb in a certain direction from the spectator area.
"That's TCB's trainer, Sakura Baimu."